Several numismatic news or coin blog articles are referenced on CoinNews two separate times a week. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend coin collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Here are today’s coin articles:

Counterfeit Euros Are Detected With an Optical MouseScienceDaily

The sensor of some optical mice can be used to easily and cheaply detect counterfeit euros, according to a study published by researchers of the University of Lleida (UdL) in the scientific journal Sensors. Almost 80% of counterfeit coins discovered in Europe in 2008 were two-euro coins …

I’ve been intrigued by coins and the market for them since I was a child. I grew up overseas and was exposed to world coins at a young age. I soon became interested in American issues, too. By age 10 I was a member of the American Numismatic Association, subscribed to hobby periodicals and was reading books by Q. David Bowers on the coin market. After metal prices exploded in 1980 and then declined rapidly, I began a long hiatus from collecting for reasons that had nothing to do with the price of gold or silver. I was a teen-ager and had other priorities …

A woman quietly left $40,000 worth of rare U.S. coins near a Catholic shrine for safekeeping so the Virgin Mary could watch over her life savings while she was out of town, and apparently it worked: The money was returned to her when she got back a week later. Operators of the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes near …

In 2010, you will see a new slogan on the homepage of my website (www.raregoldcoins.com). Besides being catchy, “Coins with Character” represents a philosophy that guides me as a buyer and which I try to impart to collectors. Let me explain what, in my opinion, this expression means …

When is a penny worth a million dollars? When it’s a 1795 reeded-edge U.S. penny, one of only seven known to exist. It recently sold for nearly $1.3 million at auction–the first time a one-cent coin has cracked the million-dollar price barrier. It follows the sale earlier this year of a high-end collection of rare half-dollars that fetched $1.1 million at auction. At the same time …

Collectors are always told to specialize, but a U.S. type set has a lot to offer, for many reasons. First of all, it’s a challenge like no other; it’s not just filling in the holes in an album. Second, a collector could get a broad overview of the scope of American coinage, whether his or her collection starts with 20th century issues or goes all the way back to 1793. The set is historical, and ideal for the kind of person who likes to learn a little bit about a lot of things …